


Kiss and Tell

by GirlKnownSomewhere



Category: The Monkees (Band), The Monkees (TV)
Genre: 2010s, Band Fic, Cute, F/M, Ficlet, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, One Shot, Reunions, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-19 06:49:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22306960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GirlKnownSomewhere/pseuds/GirlKnownSomewhere
Summary: Peter and Ann reunite for the first time in decades at a 2013 concert in Mesa, AZ.
Relationships: Peter Tork/Ann Moses
Kudos: 7





	Kiss and Tell

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here it is. The fanfic sequel to the real life blog post Ann made on reconnecting with Peter in 2013 that inspired this past year's Monkees fangirling and fic writing from me, lol. If you aren't familiar with the post, I'd recommend reading it to appreciate this ficlet even more (though you don't really need to read it to enjoy it all the same); and because Ann's recollection on the night is so sweet. Enjoy! ❤️💫
> 
> http://annmoses.com/the-monkees-back-to-the-future/
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the Monkees or Ann Moses' likeness.

One-shot: Kiss and Tell

Mesa, August 2013

On a complete whim, Ann found the Monkees’ modern tour manager/music supervisor, Andrew’s e-mail address last month. She sent him a message with a short bio on her history with the band and how she’d love to visit backstage with a friend. To her shock, he not only knew who she was, but also collected vintage copies of most of her articles. It was no trouble for Andrew to get a couple more VIP passes for Ann and her colleague Mindy—one of the younger employees at the dentist’s office she worked at who happened to be a fourth generation Monkees fan and a great photographer. Ann thought it would be most fitting to personally host the concert for her with some personal memories and an up-close view of her own reunion with her camera. The perks of the passes included being able to meet with Peter before the show, and the others afterwards. The two old friends reminisced and caught up with each other for over 30 minutes, and it felt as if no time had gone by at all. The half hour nearly felt like only 5 minutes, and she was almost disappointed when she and Mindy had to move to their seats for the show. 

After a stellar performance with seats center of the audience, Ann and Mindy set for backstage again. This time the former only spent about 10 minutes reuniting with Micky, and maybe not surprisingly, Mike was nowhere to be seen. Ann could faintly remember the last two times she saw him in person, and they were past their worst moments in their love-hate relationship, so she didn’t think he was intentionally ignoring her. Though Andrew did mention that Mike usually skipped the meet & greets in general, so maybe he really did have another reason for being absent. While Ann was hugging and greeting Micky, Mindy was in the midst of chatting with Peter’s fiancée, Pam. After the second greeting of the night, Peter whispered into Ann’s ear an offer to follow him outside to chat some more, which she instantly agreed with. 

The former journalist and the music artist peacefully strolled outside the local music stadium in Mesa, Arizona. At their present spot they could see a pretty good view of the city and to the left, a local baseball game shot fireworks. Ann let out a happy sigh as she leaned forward on the railing of the ramp that lead to a parking lot. It felt amazing to return to a time in her life she thought would never come back.

“God, I can’t believe you guys are in Arizona!” She exclaimed excitedly.

Peter laughed slightly. “We’ve toured here before, but I know what you mean.”

“I live only 15 minutes away!” She revealed. “Can you imagine what your shows would’ve been like with this sound system in 1967?” Ann continued still enthralled.

He smiled before responding. “I know, I probably wouldn’t have minded all the screaming if we had monitors back then.”

“I’ll admit though, I did miss the intimacy of watching through the wings,” she confessed with a small smile. 

Peter leaned his side on the railing so to face her. “Yeah, your cute face was always one of the highlights of those shows.”

She let out a giggle, feeling as if she was 20 years old again. It was so great to see the guys again, but especially Peter. If only she could have worked up the motivation to have done this before Davy died…

“I’m glad we got to talk so much before the show,” she continued, still smiling.

“Me too…in fact…” He scooted a little closer contently. “I was thinking about our conversation for most of the show…”

“Aw…I thought about it a couple of times too,” she agreed. There was a soft pause with the pair just enjoying the moment. Ann looked down when she felt him take hold of her hand gently. Then she glanced up and saw a gleam in his eyes that remind her of a similar moment, very long ago. Except back then it was the night they discovered their feelings for each other were more than platonic. Oh…wait…

“…Peter…?”

“Annie…” He responded while gingerly wrapping his arms around her and leaning forward.

“Nope,” she said while raising her hand and placing her palm on his cheek to awkwardly turn his face to the side as he attempted to kiss her. The action didn’t faze him, and he settled on hugging her instead.

“God, I’m so happy we’re friends again,” he expressed with a sigh. She let her arms embrace him back despite the slight misfire.

“Same—”

“We should’ve reconnected years ago,” he continued with an additional squeeze.

“I agree—”

“It feels just like how we were before—”

At that, Ann moved her hands to his front and slightly pushed him back. “Without kissing. Friends don’t kiss,” she reminded him.

He smirked slightly. “We used to.”

She instinctively let out a sigh at the memory. “Okay, but that was maybe five times and we were both single for all but one of them.”

“What about just now, before the show?” He asked letting his hands rest around her waist.

She sighed again and thought back to the end of their initial conversation backstage. They had concluded the reunion with a warm hug before their lips locked after Peter softly placed his hands on her cheeks. Ann was so caught up in the moment that she didn’t think much of it at the time, but now the reality was dawning on her.

“Yeah…we probably shouldn’t have done that either…”

Peter’s smile instantly vanished. “You didn’t enjoy it?” He asked concerned.

“No…I did…” She confirmed. “You were always a good kisser…” She felt her face blush for the second time that night in what felt like ages.

He smiled again in relief and pulled her closer. 

“No, we’re not doing this,” Ann repeated with her hands placed on his arms to keep him at a short distance.

“Why—”

Before he could say anything else, she raised her left hand to show her wedding band. “Because now I’m the one who’s married. And you’re not available either. Like usual.” She was suddenly glad she convinced Tony to stay home and that the concert should be a ‘girls night out.’

The information barely affected him. “It’s always been different with us though—”

“Only because I—what’s that term? The friend zone? I did that to you after the ‘Birds and Bees’ release party.”

Ann’s flashback caused him to finally let go of her, casually place his hands on his hips and declare, “Yeah, and it nearly killed me.”

There was a silence at the unexpected confession. “…What?” Ann finally said.

“Oh, this can’t be a surprise. Even after everything that happened later that summer?”

“I knew we were physically attracted to each other, but you were sleeping with everyone back then. How was I supposed to know you legitimately wanted a relationship?”

“I literally told you—”

“And then you continued sleeping around. I may have been naïve, but I wasn’t dumb enough to believe you’d actually be faithful,” she claimed.

“Well…” He started, but wasn’t sure how to counter her correct statement. “It wasn’t everybody—”

“Janis, Karen, Rachel, Susan, Debbie, Jasmine, Judy, Nurit—”

Peter cut off her listing with a genuine guffaw. “Definitely not Nurit.”

She raised an eyebrow at the reaction. “Really? Not even before Mike?”

He just continued looking at her with an amused smile.

Ann shook her head lightly with the new knowledge. “Okay, whatever. But then Reine entered the picture, and that really made it impossible.”

“Only because you were all over Maurice,” Peter countered.

She thought back on the timeline of her relationship history. “…No, you still got together with her a few months before I met Maurice,” she corrected. “Nice try though.”

“I turned down Salli that time we went to the drive-in to see **Rosemary’s Baby** with Genie,” he suddenly stated.

She took a few seconds to recall the name. “…Well, you stumped me there, because I don’t even remember a Salli.”

He leaned his side against the railing again. “Brunette model and beach movie extra? She lived at my place for a while later on—”

“Ohhh,” Ann suddenly remembered. “Jackson Browne’s girlfriend?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh wow, she was really pretty—”

“Yes, she was. And I blew her off to NOT have sex with you,” Peter emphasized.

“…Oh…” Ann let out as she let the new info sink in. “…If this is supposed to impress me or guilt-trip me, neither is really happening.”

He rolled his eyes a little and continued. “My point was I spent more time hanging out, socializing and talking to YOU more than I had sex with any of those other girls.”

“Well…Too little too late…” Was all she could come up with.

Peter chose that moment to lightly take hold of her arms again. “Ann, wouldn’t it be great if we could get you to go on the tours again? You could write our reviews and reports like before.”

“Except I haven’t written professionally in 40 years and have a fulltime career in orthodontics,” she reminded.

“It wouldn’t really be any different than a vacation—”

“Vacations don’t last two months. And even when I was at Tiger Beat, I would only fly in for a week or two of the tours.”

“Annie, we need to make up for all the lost time we wasted not being in each other’s lives,” he stressed.

She raised her hand to rub her temple and sighed. “I guess I’m still the only person giving you reality checks. You seriously can’t think there is any logic in this.”

“Mike’s kids are part of our crew and on the road all the time. And the wives are around.”

She squinted, unconvinced at his explanation. “How exactly do you see this playing out in your head? What, are you going to spend mornings with me and nights with Pam?”

“I mean…would that be terrible?” He asked sheepishly.

Ann just stared in disbelief. “I think that’s your groupie mentality resurfacing.”

“You and Pam seemed to get along fine before the show,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, and to her credit she’s a lot more pleasant than Reine ever was,” Ann claimed before Peter let out another natural laugh. “I’m sorry, I know she was hot, but I could never get why you tried to make that work.”

“Well, you know…living with five women and slew of other hippies probably isn’t an arrangement that’s built to last,” he theorized with a smirk. “And an unplanned pregnancy as well.”

The last comment brought her back to the present and made her think of something. “Peter…” He just leisurely waited while they were both facing, but currently not holding, each other. “…Is it true you’ve never cheated on Pam?”

Peter’s expression turned a bit more serious for the first time that night and he moved to lean his frontside on the railing away from her. Ann didn’t want to appear completely in the dark as to what her old friends had been up to the past four decades, so she did some Googling over the last couple of days. One of the links she found included that supposed claim much to her albeit pleasant shock. Unfortunately she also came across some rather graphic details on his old groupie history that she would have preferred to have stayed ignorant of.

“Yes,” he ultimately answered as he glanced at her. “Impressed?”

“Yes, I am very proud of you,” she agreed. “So why would you want to break that streak?”

“You’re special—”

“Oh God, don’t put that kind of weight on me,” she groaned.

He chuckled. “Well it’s true. You were always more interesting than most of the models and girlfriends at those parties and shows.”

“Yeah, well…too bad I didn’t particularly feel like it at the time,” she dully noted.

He grabbed her hand for a squeeze. “But now you’re aware of your editorial impact, so we can star—”

“Peter, listen to me,” she interrupted and grabbed his face for his full attention. “Those days aren’t coming back. Even if this night had happened back in the ‘80s when you guys first reunited, I still wouldn’t have agreed to go on tour with you because I would have been busy raising my kids. And from what I’ve read, you were trying to do the same thing with your own children. We are both just way too old to go back to how it used to be. We’re not even middle-aged anymore, we’re just…old. I think it’s great you all have the energy and resources to keep performing, but I don’t think I have that kind of stamina anymore.”

He didn’t bother to argue with her this time and gave her a somber smile as she lowered her hands. “It’s just a shame we wasted so much time not speaking with each other,” he finally spoke with.

Ann sighed in equal somberness. “That I do regret too…” She let him hold her hand again run his thumb over the back of it before continuing. “But…the good thing about being friends now is all the technology options we have to talk to each other. Which is good since we don’t even live in the same state.”

“Phones aren’t nearly as personal as—”

“I’m not leaving my 30-year marriage to go traveling with you. Sorry.” She cut him off shortly and without bothering to sound regretful with the tacked-on apology. That was apparently all it took for Peter to drop the argument and give a slight nod in understanding. 

“You’re right,” he agreed with an exhale.

She nodded slightly. 

“You’re always right,” he added, which quickly caused a snort from her.

“Oh, please,” she sarcastically retorted.

“No, I mean it,” he insisted. “I can’t imagine how much worse the drama would’ve been back then without you around.”

She formed a lazy half-smile at that claim. “It wasn’t always fun refereeing you four, you know.”

He passed a somewhat apologetic smile to her. “Well…I hope my charm and unique wit was enough to make up for it,” he quipped in jest.

A natural smiled formed, instantly reminding her of when they were young. “Of course.”

“I meant it before, I wish I had kept in contact with you,” he repeated seriously.

“I know…but, maybe we needed to take a break. You were deep into all that hippie, free love scene and I barely knew what a joint and a blow job was at the time.” He laughed as if she was joking, but she chose not to remind him that really was the case for the first year they knew each other. 

“I hate that the last time you saw me was at my worst,” he stated softly.

She smiled again supportively. “From what I’ve heard, it sounds like I actually missed your worst…But honestly…you might have needed that extreme moment of clarity on your own. There’s only so much I could’ve done on the sidelines.”

He nodded again in agreement. 

“Besides, you got to see me at my worst too,” she noted.

Another smirk from Peter formed at her claim. “Yes, we should all be so lucky for our worst to be three months of job hunting.”

She shook her head playfully. “Look at how much you accomplished after you cleaned up though. Driving cross-country, teaching for two years, re-building your childhood home. You even released a solo record!” She cheerfully ended.

Peter’s smile grew. “I would have sent you a personal copy.”

“I should give it a listen again when I get home.”

His eyebrows rose in a pleasant surprise. “Oh, so you actually own it?”

Ann felt her cheeks heat again for a third time. “Yes…I was excited for you, but I guess wasn’t sure if it would be awkward to try to contact you after so long and me turning myself into such an anonymous local,” she revealed. He looked both impressed and understanding as a way for her to not feel uncomfortable at the confession. The friends then let a calming pause carry for a moment.

“40 years was still too long for us,” he persisted.

“Yeah…” Another tranquil silence lingered for a while until Ann spotted Andrew in the hall through the glass doors beside them. Right as she was going to suggest joining the rest of the group again, Peter suddenly pulled her into a tight hug. After a second of surprise left her, Ann reciprocated the embrace and let it linger. Even after five decades it still felt incredible to be held by him. She gave a slight squeeze, knowing they would be going back to their regular life schedules tomorrow and wouldn’t be seeing each other any time particularly soon. When she let out a long, peaceful breath, she heard Peter say: “How about just a week—”

“No,” she cut him off pointedly and looked up at him. “Peter, please…this whole day has been amazing. Don’t ruin it…”

He sighed once more before nodding again. She felt him give her a peck on the top of her head before letting go and stepping aside. Hoping the parting wouldn’t end on a sad note, Ann linked their arms together and directed them back to the building. “I’m really looking forward to becoming online friends! That’ll be something new we haven’t done before,” she exclaimed optimistically. 

“That’s basically virtual pen pals, right?” 

“Sure! You have a Facebook, right?” 

“Oh, yes. Well, it exists. Hallie made it for me, and she and Erica post on it,” he answered.

“Oh…” It now occurred to Ann that he was one of those celebrities who just let an assistant run his internet presence. “But you can still do e-mails, right?”

“Yes,” he lightly laughed. 

“Okay, I’ll give you my e-mail address when we get back to the lounge. And we can text each other any time too,” she considered. “…Do you text?”

“Yes,” he responded amusedly again. “I’m not a complete fogey yet,” he added cheekily.

Ann sighed in relief as they carried onward to the new chapter in their lives.


End file.
